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Tommies Blog: Rally Falls Short For St. Thomas At Wartburg

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A late rally that included an onside kick recovery late in the fourth quarter came up just short for the St. Thomas football team in a 37-71 loss at Wartburg Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Playoffs.

Trailing 37-28 with 4:30 left in regulation, the Tommies drove to kick a 28-yard field goal with under a minute left to cut the deficit to 37-31. They successfully recovered an onside kick and were in position for a potential game-winning score, but Wartburg intercepted a John Gould pass at its 22-yard line to seal a victory. Wartburg now advances to host St. John's, which beat St. Scholastica 35-7 on Saturday in Collegeville.

St. Thomas ended its regular season with an 8-3 record and went into the contest ranked No. 18 in the country.

The Tommies were playing from behind for a majority of the contest. Wartburg got out to a 13-0 lead before St. Thomas scored on touchdowns from Nick Waldvogel and Brenton Braddock to go ahead 14-13.

Brad Domeyer's touchdown with less than four minutes left in the first half gave the Knights a 20-14 lead at the half. Domeyer finished the day with 138 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 27 carries. Quarterback Logan Schrader passed for 168 yards and a touchdown as Wartburg outgained St. Thomas 442-417 in the game.

Gould finished the day 20-of-37 passing for 279 yards and two touchdowns, but also had two interceptions. Both of his touchdowns went to Charlie Dowdle, who finished with seven catches for 123 yards and a pair of scores. His second touchdown got the Tommies within 30-28 with less than 10 minutes left in regulation.

But St. Thomas's chance to get ahead when it mattered the most, at the end, came up just short as Gould's pass into double coverage was intercepted with 30 seconds left.

The season finished with St. Thomas's fifth NCAA Playoffs appearance in seven seasons under Caruso, who has now led them to an 11-5 record in the postseason. The 31 points St. Thomas scored was the most Wartburg had allowed all season. The Knights entered the game allowing on average less than 12 points per game.

St. Thomas can look back at one category this season that proved costly in all three of its losses. The Tommies had a combined nine turnovers in setbacks to St. John's, Bethel and Wartburg. Four turnovers against the Johnnies prevented any hopes of a comeback victory in their MIAC opener. St. Thomas also had three in the loss to Bethel.

Wartburg scored off Gould's first interception to take a 13-0 lead in the first quarter. His second interception came at the ned of the game to seal the Knights' victory.

The quarterback spot will likely be the most interesting competition in the offseason as the Tommies look to get back on top of the MIAC. Matt O'Connell entered the season as the clear No. 1 starter, then got pulled in the losses to the Johnnies and Royals after turnovers and poor play. Gould, for the most part, played well in place of O'Connell, leading them to victories in their last three games and helping clinch the at-large playoff berth.

Both O'Connell and Gould will be seniors next year and will compete for the starting job. St. Thomas will graduate seniors Dan Ferrazzo and Cole Kelly on offense as well as at least three talented offensive linemen.

But the program's big losses will come on defense and in the secondary with Kyle Coyne and Sean Hamlin as well as linebackers Tom Laventure and Rutger Heffelfinger. They alos graduate talented defensive linemen in Sam Pokornowski and Josh Corbin.

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